Mirror
by Nimelloth
Summary: It was only a short moment that made Harry think, a small memory, and yet changed it the following events more than he would have guessed.


Mirror

chapter 1 : the vision

Harry looked up to the teacher's table. It was unusually empty, by now three seats were unoccupied-  
>Hargird was missing, who, by his size, caused a hole for five. McGonagall wasn't there either, what surprised nobody, after that night. Today, the whispering in the hall was rather a shouting and screaming, everyone seemed to know. No one could have missed it.<br>The seat in the middle was taken. He felt anger when he saw that Umbridge was impudent enough to claim Dumbledore's chair. With her toad-grin she looked over the Hall again and again, as if she didn't notice the tumult. Though no one dared to attack her openly, the baneful looks and the outraged whisper couldn't miss her. She's been successful in what she's been trying all along: Dumbledore's strongest defenders were eliminated in one single night. No half-breeds left. No one left that dared to resist her. She did this by pure cowardice and unfounded accusations. Most of the people in Hogwarts longed for a revolution; however, no one was brave enough to start one. Not after what happened to the DA members. Meanwhile everyone knew about her methods just to slit up the student's hands. And thereby increase the hatred against her.  
>Harry couldn't stand it any more. He ate his toast, took four others and fled out of the hall. He hurried to the Common Room with big steps. Hermione hadn't even come to have breakfast. She sat in an armchair and murmured everything she knew about History of Magic, checked the said there and then in a book and parchment and made, like before every other test, a very worried impression. Between goblin revolts thing like "I'll fail for sure." were audible every now and then. But she hadn't ever been a particularly skilled Seer.<br>Ron sat next to her and looked pretty bad. Even though he, if you mentioned that to him, would say it was "just" History of Magic, who cares. However with an nervous undertone. And he'd scratch his nose.  
>Deep in thoughts, he stared inside the fire and sometimes looked around, checked what the others were doing, listened to Hermione's murmur and sometimes nodded absently.<br>When Harry neared them, they looked up, thankfully accepted a toast and didn't say anything. For a while, the three of them sat more or less silently until a knocking on the window interrupted them. The mail had come meanwhile, and because Hermione hadn't been in the Great Hall, the owl with the Daily Prophet made its way to the Gryffindor Tower. She stood up, put a knut inside the little bag and threw the papers, without looking at them, on the stack of parchment she already read. Rather because of boredom than of interest, Harry took the Daily Prophet and skanned the cover. Nothing special. As he got further inside the papers, he notticed a few short articles.

**Umbridge heads for higher education level and releases gamekeeper and teacher Rubeus Hagrid**

_His nomination to the teacher of Care of Magical Creatures by Albus Dumbledore (read more on p. 13) was disputed from the beginning. The long-time gamekeeper hasn't even graduated, he was expelled from Hogwarts because of his early arising affection of dangerous creatures, of that even a pupil died, and should according to many parents' opinion not be allowed to bypass pupils. Lucius Malfoy: "This man is dangerous. Everyone could see this by the many injuries that happened just because he "_studied_" inadequate creatures. This way, not much time ago 15-year-olds were scared by highly dangerous thestrals._

_It's been the students' luck that Dolores Umbridge, Hogwarts High Inquisitor and Headmistress, picked just that lesson to learn about the half-giant's methods. (the shocking transcripts on p. 10) It's been time that he finally would be replaced by a competent teacher."_

Agitated, Harry read the article again. He shouldn't be surprised that the Daily Prophet wrote wrong and screwed up things, but to accuse Hagrid of a murder that's been cleared up three years ago was too much. Solely curiosity made him read page 13.

**Dumbeldore still on the run – Minstry warns witches and wizards**

_The former headmaster of the Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry is after the abortive apprehension still fleeing. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge warns the Wizarding Community: "As it is known since a year, the once so brilliant Dumbledore is obviously gone mad. He has bizarre delusions and is a threat to all of us. Should anyone have clues to his whereabouts, he or she must instantaneously contact the Auror Office. Avoid talking to him, he is unpredictable by now."_

Harry snorted and threw the papers back on the stack.  
>"What's it say?" Ron asked and gave a sign of live for the first time since long.<br>"Nothing new. Hagrid's dismissal is a lucky increase of Hogwart's level and Dumbledore is homicidal and mad."  
>"Don't think about it, Harry." Hermione said "People will get bored someday and ask questions. Someday Voldemort will show himself, and then they'll see."<br>"But he's not dumb enough to show himself until he can't be stopped any more."  
>Hermione, in lack of a counterargument, sighted and turned back to her studies.<p>

The further morning was eventless. Wherever you look, you'd see fifth years alone or in small groups, repeating the lessons. At two pm, the test started. Gradually the pupils went to the Great Hall, to find it with hundred single tables again, the big House Tables on the wall. When everyone had sat down, the examiners handed the tests out with a wink of their wands.  
>"You have two hours." one of them boasted "Starting now."<br>Immediately the sound of parchment rustled, followed by a short silence, while everyone read the first question, and then fast quills rushing over the parchment.  
>After half an hour, Harry had already reached the last question, while he had excluded half of them. Indeed, there was nothing he could have answered right away. He ended up reading the questions again, very carefully, and tried to remember something. However, it shouldn't work and his concentration decreased more and more. He was distracted by everything, his thoughts wandered and eventually he just stared at the questions and dozed off.<p>

Suddenly the obscure piece of parchment vanished, he ran through the dark corridor. But Harry wasn't shocked. It was as it had to be. Then there was the door again. He didn't expect it to open, but he reached for the handle, pushed it down, and it actually opened this time. Happily excited he went on, into a room with many doors, he strode to one of them, and it opened too. He ran through the rows, and finally there was number 97. He hurried between these two rows, until he reached the end.  
>Someone laid there, arching like an injured animal. He saw his pale, long-fingered hand that fingered his wand.<br>"You'll have to give it to me... I can't do it, but you'll give it to me..." he said in his high-pitched, cold voice. "_Crucio_!" The man tried to stand up, fell and kept laying, twitching in pain. Harry laughed and stopped the curse.  
>"Lord Voldemort's waiting..."<br>The man straightened very slowly and held his head high. His face was in blood and gaunt, it twitched in pain and was still stubborn and repellent.  
>"You'll have to kill me." said Sirius.<br>"I will, eventually. But first, you give it to me, Black.. you think you know what pain means? Think about it... we've got hours left and no one will hear you scream..."

But someone screamed, when Voldemort descended his wand again; someone screamed and fell collateral from the hot table on the cold stone floor; Harry woke up, when he crashed, still screaming, with a burning scar on his forehead, and around him in the Great Hall a tumult started.

The examiners tried to calm the pupils down, while Professor Tofty led the shaking Harry outside and said "Hospital Wing" over and over during a murmuring, but Harry didn't understand much of it. He had to get his head clear.  
>Sirius was in Voldemort's hold. In the Ministry. He needed someone in whom he could trust, who could help him, help Sirius. Of course, his first thought was Dumbledore, and he was already about to go to the gargoyle when he remembered that Dumbledore had left.<br>What now? McGonagall, he decided rather subconscious. So he quickly made his way to the Hospital Wing. As Tofty had said. No one would be suspicious. But what should he do after that? He couldn't head to the Ministry, where he was believed to have gone mad, and proclaim that a feared wizard who was supposed to be hiding in Tibet and wanted to kill Harry, was right now tortured by Voldemort, who was officially dead, in the Department of Mysteries and had to be rescued. That should be the most unbelievable story they ever heard.  
>But McGonagall would know what to do. She'd always known what to do by now, and for sure she'd have an idea. She knew everything going on in the Order, after all. She most likely knew why Sirius is in the Department of Mysteries right know, and in particular how to get him out of there.<br>Suddenly he noticed that he had already reached the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and watched him with raised eyebrows.  
>"What is it this time, Mr. Potter? We've been seeing us too often recently, haven't we?"<br>"Professor McGonagall..." Harry said breathless, without explaining himself any further.  
>"Well, I'm sorry, Potter." she answered and seemed very relieved first, and then very upset. "The poorest was just brought to St. Mungo's. Imagine what happened! Four Stunning Charms in the chest, and she's not the youngest any more. They should've tried that at daytime, stunning Minerva McGonagall! Cowardice it is, purest cowardice, I tell you..."<br>Without another word Harry turned around and wandered through the corridors, as if he hoped the solution to walk past him. Then the single useful thought he could make came: _Ron and Hermione_. They just had to know something. He nearly ran back to the Great Hall, just to find it completely left. The test must have been over for long. Harry didn't really notice himself walking to the Common Room. If he wouldn't find them there... But he didn't dare to think about it. Of course they'd be in the Common Room, where else? And immediately ten other possibilities came into his mind.  
>But he was lucky at last today. They sat near the entrance in two chairs and whispered, blatantly worried. They constantly gazed towards the portrait and when Harry appeared, Hermione breathed relieved and went to him quickly.<br>"Harry, what did you see? Is someone hurt?" she whispered at once and led him to a chair next to theirs.  
>"Sirius..." he said and swallowed hard. But there was no time to waist.<br>"What's wrong with him? Was it the snake again?" Ron interjected and was shushed by Hermione.  
>"Voldemort..." Harry began and went through the whole vision again. "he has to have got him somehow, he's torturing him... in the Depertment of Mysteries. We have to rescue him."<br>Thereupon they both were quiet for a moment, then Hermione talked into Harry gingerly. "Listen, Harry, are you sure it was real? I mean... it could have been a common dream, couldn't it?"  
>"No, it wasn't. It's been just like with Mr. Weasley. It's the truth, Hermione, Sirius could be dying maybe he already is dead..." but while he said it, he knew that wasn't true. He would have felt it, he told himself, he would for sure have known if Voldemort had murdered again.<br>"Are you sure? You know, you wouldn't do Sirius a favour if you went there rash, maybe it's a trap..." she went on unflustered.  
>"I wouldn't do Sirius a favour if I just let him die down there!" Harry returned in a mixture of yelling and whispering.<br>"I know that, but if it really is – don't interrupt me! - a trap? If Voldemort only got Sirius to lock you? Harry, he knows you by now. If he wanted you there, he'd do just that. Because he knows you'd come."  
>"What does that change? Sirius is in danger, I have to help him, and I do not care if Voldemort wants me to go anywhere or not!"<br>"But that's exactly what I'm talking about. You know that Sirius would rather want you to stay here. No matter if he dies or not, most important to him is that you survive. And anyway, how should Voldemort have caught him? Dumbledore forbid him to leave the house. Sirius listens to Dumbledore, whether he likes it or not."  
>And for a moment Harry had no arguments left. He knew that everything Hermione said was true. But he knew just as much what he'd seen, and that was true as well.<br>"What shall we do now? I won't just sit here and wait."  
>The answer didn't come from Hermione, but from Ron. "What if we try and check if Sirius really isn't home, somehow?"<br>"And how could we do that?" Hermione bickered, appearantly interrupted from thinking by Ron's stupid idea.  
>"Well, we could use the Floo Network..."<br>"But Umbridge watches every fireplace. Then we'd for sure have Sirius go back to Azkaban, or worse."  
>"If he's not dead already." Harry added absently. In his head, he saw every memory he had of Sirius like in a fast-forwarded film. How he had affirmed his innocence, how he had asked him to live with him. That happy moment, that was destroyed shortly after; the conversations through the fireplace, the last summer they had spend with him; the Christmas holidays, at least the happy part of it, and the last time they had seen each other, when they had said good-bye...<br>And suddenly he had an idea. He jumped up and ran the up stairs, taking three steps at once. Ron and Hermione stopped bickering and starred after him shocked for a moment, then hurried to the boy's dormitory as , Harry was already searching the deepest grounds of his trunk. When he finally found what he'd searched, he smiled grimly. Soon the two of them would see that he'd been right, even if he didn't really know what the small package in his hands was or how it would work. But Sirius had told him to use it in case of emergency, and this was an emergency.  
>Hermione and Ron still looked at him aghast and didn't understand exactly how Harry was going to help Sirius with this wrapped something in his hands.<p> 


End file.
